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“Pansy” Re-enters the Lexicon (pansification)

Feb 1st, 2009
by Michael Krahn.

Here is the clip from tonight’s broadcast of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) where Ron MacLean interviews Helen Kennedy of Egale Canada over the use of the word “pansification” – a term used by HNIC commentator Mike Milbury, who coined the term to describe how the NHL would be softened should the league heed calls to ban fighting.

 

I have used the word “pansy” more than few times, but never once as a homophobic slur.  A pansy is a flower; flowers look nice but don’t do much else. When someone isn’t giving as much effort as they are capable of, I have been known on occasion to call such a person out as a “pansy.”Of course, some words gain and lose and change meanings over time. For example, “gay” once meant happy and “queer” once meant strange. “Pansy” may have at one time have been a more specifically derogatory term, but I don’t believe it has been for a long time.CBC spokesperson Jeff Keay’s response: “The point is, it was no way intended to be a reflection on or offensive to gay people. I think the colloquial use of the term was something they didn’t associate with gay people. The way the language evolves over time, 20 or 30 years ago it would have been seen, reasonably enough, as a direct slur against gay people.”What Egale Canada has done is re-entered this word into the lexicon of homophobic derogatory terms. For the most part, it had dropped off the radar as a homophobic slur – something we should all have been happy about.Now, it’s back on the radar, and those inclined to use homophobic slurs have another weapon in their arsenal.Agree or disagree?




Posted in: Canada, Issues, Politics, Quotes and Comments.

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  • Loukie

    I never thought about it, so I asked a gay chum, he reckons it depends on the circumstance. If said in jest between mates, no problem, but generally rather not use the term. Let me add we live in South Africa, the cultural tolerances may differ.

  • Andy Doan

    Unfortunately in cases like this you don’t get to tell someone what is offensive to them.

    The word ‘pansy’ when used in reference to a person (specifically a male) has always meant gay to me. No mater what the context when I hear it used I will always consider it to mean my personal default definition of the word. I’m sure most people will at least acknowledge it’s use in this manner.

    Mike Milbury knew the meaning of the word before he said it. He had the choice of many different words to get his point across. He should have called them “Pussies”. It’s a lot more attention grabbing then “wimp” and it’s completely free from any reference to homosexuals. Pussy is not really offensive to anyone yet I’ve rarely heard sports reporters use it.

    Hateful people will be no better off with an extra little word at their disposal. They’re already marked by their thoughts and actions not the vocabulary they use. It’s the institutionalized slurs that I think the Egale group is more concerned about. The words that roll off the tongues of well intentioned individuals just because they seem so harmless. These are the terms that are truly damaging to any marginalized section of our society.

    What if a news caster somewhere had determined that the word “spic” no longer meant someone of Hispanic descent or from Mexico (as in the popular use). Instead in the context of the story he decided that it meant dirty transient. Even if you push this ten or twenty years into the future the outrage is pretty easy to foresee.

  • Andy Doan

    Here’s a conversation I just thought of

    Man1: “Hey gayguy. If I call you a ‘pansy’ it not because you’re gay it’s because you’re afeminine!”

    GayGuy: “Ok thanks for letting me know!”

    Man1: “No problem pansy!”

    Does this seem right to anyone?

  • becktrocity

    in my personal lexicon, “pansy” holds only one meaning, when targeted at a human being, instead of a flower… it is an unfortunate term at best, and a hateful homophobic slur at worst. this is the ONLY way i’ve ever heard it used, outside of the greenhouse.

    the word “pussy” on the other hand: how is this any better? used as a derogatory term it is well up there on my list of annoying, offensive words. i wonder why some Y-chromosomed types feel the need to flaunt their masculinity to the extent that they belittle all things female (or, “effeminate”).

    i would put forward that this is related to internal conflict and/or fear about their own masculinity and/or sexuality. which, i might add, is a pretty standard definition of homophobia.

    my question: what does any of this gendered language nonsense have to do with the game of hockey? can’t people find better and more precise ways of talking about the sport, that don’t pander to assumptions that all viewers are old-school xenophobes?

    i applaud Helen Kennedy for taking this on, and encouraging evolution within “Canada’s national sport”. we’re known around the world for our hockey and our same sex rights.

    i’d like to think that the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

  • http://www.thebrentmccoy.blogspot.com Brent McCoy

    Pansy has never meant ‘gay’ to me. It has and always will mean ‘wimp’ to me. I’ve heard ‘Patsy’ before. Does ‘Patsy’ mean ‘gay’.

    I think if you’re offended by the word ‘pansy’ they you’re a pansy.
    I probably shouldn’t have gone there, but I did.

  • Don

    “Pansy” come on really! What does a flower do? To a man they are pretty but serve no useful purpose but to look good. So if you are called a “pansy” it means you are being completely useless. It has nothing to do with being homosexual. Stop being a “pansy” and wasting everyone’s time being hurt because your were called out for being useless and do something useful like feeding the orphans!

  • http://www.michaelkrahn.com Michael Krahn

    If you’re going to find potential (or former) schoolyard bullies, it will be among the readers of Yahoo’s raucous NHL “Puck Daddy” blog. Sure the usual louts attempt to exacerbate the issue, but the majority say “Huh?”

    A selection of comments from the (presumably) straight jocks at the Yahoo Puck Daddy blog – a few of whom are openly homophobic:

    “Pansy means wussy, cowardice, and baby…not gay.”

    “What is a pansy? is a flower? whats a flower? weak, easily broken and killed, wilts under the tiniest of pressure…ok..so when youre calling somebody who sucks at fighting a pansy…youre saying they are WEAK, EASILY BROKEN AND KILLED, and WILTING UNDER THE TINIEST OF PRESSURE”

    “Pansy in no way means homosexual, that’s what the thousands of other homophobic slurs are for. I’ve played and been around the game my whole life and had coach’s tell me I’m playing like a pansy or the team is, it’s much more of the usage in hockey without any connotation of sexual identity.”

    And a selection of comments from the (presumably) non-straight jocks at the outsports.com’s Jock Talk blog :

    “On this one I’m with the CBC and Milbury. I know Helen – I even book some of her travel – and I respect a lot of the work EGALE has done – but this is a non-issue to me. I don’t consider ‘pansification’ to be a remark aimed at gays. Surely we’re past getting defensive about non-offensive remarks like that – aren’t we?”

    “I agree. I think we (gay people) need to stop complaining about every imaginary slight because it just sounds like we’re crying wolf. And when something truly offensive, homophobic or hateful occurs, no one will listen to us. Further, people will be so afraid of offending us that they’ll just stop talking about us.”

    “I wasn’t offended by the use of pansification but it probably wasn’t the best term to use either. ”

    ” I’m on the CBC’s side on this as well. Does anyone gay really identify with being a pansy? I don’t.”

    The term “pansy”, at worst, is used as a homophobic slur by a very small minority of people. And ever for that to be effective, the person who they are trying to insult would have to understand it the same way.

    But my point stands: “pansy” is now a homophobic derogative. Whether or not it was before is still up for debate.

  • Andy Doan

    Are they taking away all our good words?